Circuit-interrupter.



G. B. SNELL.

CIRCUIT INTEBBUPTBB.

APPLIUATIUN FILED 213.18. 1901,

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

" UNITED snfnrns-.A OFFICE.

.- cULLEiv B. SLL,

.To allz it l'may' concern:

Circuit-friterrupters' of which the following description, in conndction with the accompa- 'nying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a form, of circuit operating device or circuit interrupterjwhich comprises an electro-magnet having a vibrating armature adapted to make and break ,thecircuit therethrough,` such devices being cbmmonly known as vibrators, and'being especiall adapted to be used in connection with s ar coils or igniters for explosive engines.

evices of this character require accurate adI justment, according to the varying strength of the 'batteries and other varying conditions, hereafter described, and it becomes at times necessary to substitute one iiiterru ting device for another, so that it is desira le that these devices may be accurately and easily adjusted and ma be readily removed and replaced'. I have urther observed that the jar and vibration ordinarilycaused by the rapidly:- vibrating'armaturefwill, if notl absorbed --often cause the armature s ring to crystallize and the life thereof and o certain other parts to be shortened.

The objects of my invention are to provide a device of the above character with means' whereb f it may be readily removed from or inserte in its case, so that it may be readily inspected, adusted, or exchanged, and so that the act o inserting the device makes the necessary electrical connections; to rovide means for supporting the device so t iat the Jvibrations caused by the circuit interrupting armature will bei-absorbed, and to provide a device of this character with means whereby it'ma be adjusted so that the best results may e secured under dierent' conditions. I accom lish these objects' by employing the means s own in the accompanying drawings, in which, j

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a circuit inf terrupter and box therefor made according to Figs. 2 and 3 are'cross sections on the line 2-2 and 3-3 of Fig. 1, res ectively. Fia. 4 is an enlar ed detail sectional view on the line 4-4 of ig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the spring holding my invention.

' arms. Fig. 6 is a detail rear view of the iii-V terupting device removed from ther-use.

'lho box or casing a is provided with-a con- Specicat-ion o fletztems"atentr appuemmaiqaaqarwy'ia, ifsotjs'e'ri-i No. sum.

support f,

apparatus great acci'irac' racntea'oc. e, isos.

denser -b in its lower portion, and said casing a, is provided with achamber a in its' u per ortion which is closed on one side wit fa li a.

' The vibrator or interrupter comprises an insulatin" base piece c having the usual magnet coils fixed on said base c.' The usual stop screw g for limiting the upward movement of the arinature spring is supported uponan angular arm h connected" to the outer side -of-said a spring g being provided which locks said screw from rotation b engaging one ofthe sides of its head. Th arm h is made flexible, instead of rigid, as is usual in. other apparatus, and cushions the upthrow -of the armature spring, and thu: aids in prolonging the life of said spring. The circuit breaker comprises a spring arm t, mounted on a 4metal support k, said arm having a contact point'i'. thereon, and an end portion 'i' adapted to be engaged by 'e hammer c on the end of the arm. e. Said cont-acti point fi is held closely adjacent the end of the -contact screw l, mounted fon a metal bracket l secured to base-c and to which one end of the ma net coils d are connected, the vo posite enc? of said coils being connected to lbracket h, as a matter of convenience in making the connections,` as will, hereafter a pear. A locking spring l.i's,pro vided for ocking screw l in different positions of adjustment.

-The support 7c is vertically adjusted u on the base c by the means shown in detai in Fig. 4, which comprise a pair of adapted to ent-er .recesses c iii 4tie base c, in which are located coil springs n adapted to bear against the bottom of said recesses' and, the under side of the support. k. Ascrew o ed in the support'k, so that when said screw' thereon and the armature spring e`= which is mounted on an insulating support f 'e angularuide pins m.

is turned in one direction said support will be' drawn down againstsaid springs 'n and when' it is turned in the other direction said springs will be permitted to lift it. Said springs An also act to provide a'spring support for said support k.

n a vibrator or interrupt-er 'l of adjustment is necessary to secure the est results, and I have found that sufficient accuracy is not obtainable by any -of the usual methods where one 'or two adjusting screwsare gniployed and where the vibrating springs ii're all attached to rigid supports. T ie adjust- -$51vertically, adjusting. 't

ment of lthe-,armature spring or hammer should be chanlged according to the increase- -or decrease of t e voltage employed, and the elevation of the armature above the ma et 5 coils should depend upon the tension o the spring, the weight of the armature and hamm'er and the strength of the magnet. These factors;` var v somewhat in different instruments f -t e same design. Forv successful `J'o operation it is essential that the position of distance, as much-of that distance as ossible 2 0 shouldbeemployed in creating the break '--between-contact points and as little as possible in creating the make. If the posiftion of contact is high'with relation to the hammers movement, the duration of the 25 fmake'is short as compared with duration .of the u`breal'i", furthermore, theshorter the v distance of travel of the hammer the higher ii. the frequency vof vibrations. For these reasons it is clear that a correct position of coitact isquite `as essential as a cori-"ect tension of contact. The. tension ofcontact may be adjusted by means of the screw lin order Q that the position of contact ma be adjusted, I provide the abovedescri ed means for upport 1C. It will be apparent that' byv'erticallyy adjusting both screw. lvlvaiid' support'k the positionl o .contact with relation to the armature may. ".:beplaced atitljie most desirable point. The

,140' provisionof'ineans for vertically adjusting the support makes it readily possible .to compensate fior'variations in the tension Vof different springs'or f orrvariation in the shape or size ofQany parts which effect the adjust- '545 ment when assembling the device or renewarts. It also enables compensation x for c variations when in use, caused by l ning'tension o f the springs or short- "frijleniig of .contact point-s by Wearing. '5o these means a. saving" in battery consumption fisciected, a higher equency of vibration is secured, anda reduction ,of arcinv at the con- 'tmctponts'is accomplished, with quent increased endurance of the spark raiding possi, othe casincan a' pair of oppositely disower ends of said tively connected 'to the g3- The springs g" stesiangular forni "soigne osaid springs being illustrated in 5,.;and comprising a bifurcated baseA detail s fin. Fig:

ortion adapted to be slipped ontothe .Eindingposta and to be d flat against se thei'ierlsige, of the top effe the conseolding springs Q, q arerespecare provided on the top vreplace it, it is merely necessary .to

back springs. g, q and ress it inun'ti the,

:se uently armsof said springs extendinglfsoinewhat.

convergently downward in position 'to engage respectively, the opposite sides of the support f, or arm h thereon, and the support 'le The' 'support is provided with a projecting screw hea f and the support c with at the same time the spring makes an electrical connection with brac et It, to which one end of the magnetcoil is connected, and the s 'rin ,g makes an electric 'connection with iiracet l, to which ythe other end of ltlie magnet coil isconnected through circuit breaker 'i and support A flat spring 1' is secured yto the 4inner side of therear wall of chamber a midway between the spring arms g and and is adapted to press against the rear si e of the base c in contact with a metal strip s, connected to the bracket l.. Said sprin r is arranged in.

contactwith a strip t, to w ich one terminal b of the condenser bis connected, as shown in Fig. 2, thel other terminal b? beinor shown as `connected to'post p', so that t e condenser coil is shunted about the circuit in-l y terrupten The spring r acts toV press the base coutwardly so that, in order to remove the whole device, it is simply necessary to press thesprings g,' alpart until they are free of the screw hea sf 7c', and then the s ringjl1 will force the device out of the cham er a. To

heads If k may enter t e holes g2, allnecessary e ectrical connections being made when springs il, q.are released.

It wil be seen from Fig. that the heads q', k are circular and that the .lower ends of vthe holes q2 are curved corres ndingly, but are of somewhat greater widtili than the diameterof said heads, so that the action of sprmg i inpressino` basel c outwardly causes t e latterv to be lifted slightly;- -The result is thatthe Whole vibratoris spring supported against both horizontal and.' downwardmovement, so-thatmuch of the 'ar or lvibration, which .is ordinarily caused y the vibrating armature, will be absorbed by the spring su orts thereof.l

e shock of theve rapid vibrations of the armatures ring an contact spring tend -to crystallize t ese springs and-cause them to break at the point of greatest strain. The

spring saerts'for base c and the isd'epss ent spring supports for support k described above absorbmuch ofthis-shock of vibration and prevent-4spring-crystallization and conrolong the life of said springs. l

us described my invention', Whata rejecting screw hea'dJc ,.4 each of whichis a apted to be passedA through apertures g3 oooao I claim as new and desire to secure by L'etters Patent is l 1. A circuit operating device comprising an electro-magnet havin a vibrating arma- I ture and" means for yie dingly supporting ture and. means for yieldingly supporting' said operating device composed of a p uralit of contact springs, substantially 'as describe 3. A circuit interrupter comprising an electro-ma',;fnetfhaving a vibrating armature,

a base on which said mterrupter 1s mounted having oppositely disposed contact terminals thereon, a pair of contact s rings for said base disposed to engage sai terminals, to support said -base and absorb the' shock of vibration caused by the vibrating parts, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a casing having a chamber open at one side, a base, an electromagnetic .circuit operating device mounted on said base having circuit terminals at opposite ends'thereof, contact devices at opposite ends of said chamber, consisting/cfa pair of springs disposed to en age saidterniinals and to act in op osite said operating evice therebetween, said springs having apertures and said terminals having pro'ections disposed to enter said apertures an to lock said o erating device'ln position, substantially as described.

5. A circuit interrupter comprising an electro-magnet having a vibrating armature,

.a base onwhich said interrupter 1s mounted having oppositely disposed contact 'terminals tiereon, a pair of sup ortlng contact springs for said base dispose to engage said terminals and having apertures therein, the Lower ends of said apertures having u Wardly nclined faces, projections on said ase arranged to fit loosely in said apertures when said springs are in engagement with said terminals, and a third spring disposed to engage said base between said contact s rings to lift the same by causingit to sli e upwardly upon the inclined t faces of said apertures, substantially as described.

6. In combination with. a casing' having a chamber open at one side, a base, an electromagnetic circuit operating device mounted spring disposed to. engage the rear side of' lrections to clampy on said base having circuit terminals at op posite ends thereof, contact devices at opposite ends of said chamber,- consisti'ng of a of springs disposed to en age said terminals and to actin lo posite irections to'clamp said o rating evice therebetween, means on sai operating device for engaging said springs to prevent transverse movement ereo with relation to said springs,v anda.

said base and to press said operating 'deyice from said chamber when the other springs are moved out of engagement with saldterminals, substantiallylas described.V Y

7. A circuit interrupter comprising a base, a contact point and an electro-ma et having a vibrating armature mounte on said base, and a support yieldingly-mounted on said base and having a spring actuating arm thereon disposed to engage said contact point to make the circuit an ,to be engaged by said armature to break the circuit through said magnet, substantially as described.

8. A circuit interrupter comprising an electro-magnet having a vibrating armature, a contact point, a spring arm normally acting to engage said contact` point and disposed to be engaged by said armature and alternately' contact point and said arm in t e direction of the ath of the armature to vary the tion o contact therebetween, substantially as described.

9. A circuit interrupter comprising an electro-magnet having a vibrating armature,

A a contact'point, a sipport havinga spring contactarm thereon sposed to engage sai contact point and to be engaged by said armature to move it out of engagement with said contact point alternately to make and break the magnet circuit, and means permitting adjustment of said support and said contactin the direction of the path of said armature to vary tlieirposition of contact, substantially as described.`

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CULLEN B. SNELL. Witnesses:

' L. H. HARRIMAN,

H B. Davis. 

